OT: Different ways of being old

The other day I was getting a permit at the building department of the town where the rental house is. While I was standing at the counter, an old man came in, wheezing from climbing the stairs to the second floor office. The woman who was helping me told him she would be with him in a minute. He said that was all right, he had to sit for awhile, anyway. After he had caught his breath, he told us that this is what it was like to be almost 70. I considered offering him an alternative view, but decided there was no point.

I'm also 69, and I was there getting a permit to reroof a house which a friend and I will do next week. Before coming to the building department, I had dumped a truckload of yard waste from a 14' cedar hedge which I had removed the first 25' of in a few hours using a pole saw, a bow saw, and a small electric chain saw. I only used the chain saw when the trunks were cut low enough that I could use it with both my feet on the ground. I got the cedar stumps out by the roots by pulling them over by hand when they were about 8' high, and levering them across a concrete block. I reduced two piles of cedar debris the size of Volkswagen Beetles to two Nissan pickup truckloads using pruning sheers and a bow saw.

My point is, many, many people on this site do work like I did (and often much harder) on a regular basis, including many who are my age and older. A number of people on this site who are also somewhat disabled continue to do meaningful physical work. A lot of it just has to do with your point of view.

Stan

It depends on why one is 'old'. My FIL was a veteran of WW2, back when they encouraged the participants to smoke. He quit when he developed emphysema. At 70 he would get winded just looking at a flight of stairs. At 72 he was dead.

I understand and agree. My dad was in robust good health, but it couldn't save him from the heart defect he had been born with. He had his first and only heart attack at age 61, and dropped dead. I'm aware that life is chancy, and you don't get a choice about the hand you're dealt. My observation was directed more at the attitude of the man who I wrote about. He seemed to believe that it was a given that someone who was "almost 70" would be feeble and in poor health---that that was just the natural order of things. I think that if that's what a person believes, then that's the way they will live, and that's the way it will be---for them.

Stan

Then Izo Shimabukaru celebrates his 73 birthday by beating up 6 marines one after the other, final was 2 at once. don't smoke, rarely drink booze, a bit of gardening and about 4 to 6 hours a day with Shorin-ryu - some of it teaching Marines that want to be MPs what they'd be facing in a Okinawan bar fight. Sensei shows what can happen , then teaches how to survive at least a minute. Part of my training in that school was in a bar closed during the day for cleaning- sensei got permission to do some practice there. Bar stools can be useful tools. RN

Talk about age and spry. This weekend on the My Classic Car show Dennis Gage interviews 104 year old Margaret Dunning. You can youtube her when she was 101 and up. I couldn't find the 104 year old interview on youtube. At 101 she had changed her own spark plugs. she said that at 104 she does 8 car shows a year. She still drives.

I see a lot of folks still able to do quite well into their 80's. After about 85, not so much.

And if you don't take care of yourself, you shorten that up by 10 or more years

As I Get older , I See the effects of cigerettes vs non smokers,,smoking pays a heavy toll on the picture for sure,,Im glad I dont smoke,,I know it is tough to quit,,but everyone should quit

Taking care of self is good, but nothing you can do overcomes genetics. Crap shoot.

I was doing pretty well until last year; concussion and broken shoulder at 79 knocked a lot out of me. Now at 80-1/2 I am really low on endurance. My mind says I can still do things, but my body disagrees with that thinking.

I suddenly got old last year at 73. Seriously, I've been doing hard physical work all my life (I worked in an office all my career, but came home and worked on my place. No project was too daunting. I don't fish, golf or hunt, so work has always been my hobby. Last year developed knee, hip and shoulder problems, all at once. For the first time in my life I'm worried that I can't do it all. But I'm still trying.

Stan keep it up I'd like to be able to what you're doing now. I agree with JMOR it's about genetics. My Father worked hard well into his 80's died from Alzheimer's and COPD @ 90. My Mother on the other hand struggled to get into her 70's before passing. She had Arthritis to where she could barely move and heart problems before succumbing to breast cancer. I'm 56 and have her gene pool, My knees, hands shoulders and back are very painful, cortisone shots help but they don't last long. I had bypass surgery 8 1/2 years ago. I'm hoping to make it into my 70's but not sure. I'm not overweight but getting some work done is an issue. My wife on the other hand, who is the same age as me comes from a family of long life folks. Right now the only med she takes is a water pill so her ankles don't look so big. Doesn't take anything for pain. Her Dad lived to be almost 90 and her mother is in her 90's both are/were very sharp mentally.

yes nek of the woods , if you did not smoke in I school you were puss,.and I did not smoke a cigar til my 1st child came .. found I liked it ,,. but refrained during the week .. just like dad ... when I was 18, I got stuk in hospital for 11 days with grain dust /mold .., ever since I have troubled lungs ,,, probably will be the death of me in the end,,. I can relate to both men in the 1st p oster ,,. the one that was winded from climbingsteps ,,,that is currently me ,,.. hopefully by haypitching time I will beback to the old me ,, the guy that cut away brush , clean it all up before noon ,,

Might as well accept it, it is what it is. Sure, working helps you feel better but it won't help your genes. Mabie the scientists are right. We need to engineer the genes so the next generation will have perfect health and no expiration date. Didn't work out so well the last time but who knows - a test tube may fix it all.

M-MAN;

That's pretty astute. Seems almost like a different person wrote it than your posting under the topic about buying cigarettes for someone.

There's no denying that I'm argumentative, but I try to give credit where it's due.

Stan

John;

Sorry you drew a poor hand. You're exactly right---there's not much, if anything, you can do about it. Genetically, I was blessed. The men on my dad's side of the family were interesting and adventurous, and generally died early of cardiovascular related events. On my mother's side, everybody was almost unimaginably boring, but they all lived forever, and the men kept their hair. I got baldness and perfect vision from my dad (and learned self-control, which isn't a genetic thing), and apparently, longevity, hearing loss, (and self-defeating cheapness as learned behavior), from my mother.

I've always felt extremely fortunate to have good health and strength. Being well and strong has always seemed like part of who I am. Now I have arthritis in my neck and shoulders, and hip joints that seem unlikely to last as long as I will still need them. I was okay with those things as long as they were only affecting my sleep---not ideal, but manageable. Last fall I had tests run because of the amount of pain I was having at night, and found that I've got a completely severed tendon in my left rotator cuff. Two excellent orthopedic surgeons counseled against corrective surgery, because they both felt, independently, that my body had made a good accommodation to the injury. Despite me going to some lengths to try to make them understand that I still have several more years of hard physical work I have to finish before I can start taking it easy, both surgeons felt that the inherent risks of surgery outweighed the potential benefits of the repair. I'm shocked at the impact this has had on my view of myself. Previously I thought of myself as someone who had worked too hard, and not carefully enough, and consequently had some worn out parts. The knowledge that a part of me is damaged has caused me to suddenly feel old and frail and vulnerable. I'm surprised at how much trouble I'm having coming to grips with it.

Good luck. Take care of yourself, and I wish you the best.

Stan

Jerry;

What you say is the thing that gives me night sweats. I've experienced some degree of disability in the past six months, but the worst part of it is how it has undermined my self-confidence. I can still do most, if not all, of what I need to do, but I can no longer ignore the fact that it could change at any time. Bad juju.

Stan

Thanks for your wishes, I'm better off than a lot of people. Used to be there wasn't anything I couldn't get done. Now I find help and you know if I find the right young person to help me I don't mind paying, I feel good about helping a young hungry person out.

John;

You've got a great attitude. Just right, in fact.

Stan

Have you tried glucosamine for your arthritis? 3 years ago My right shoulder was getting so bad I had to load square bales with my left arm only, then someone told me about the glucosamine and I have taken it daily every since, 100% improvement, 4 months supply is less than 30 bucks at SAMS club.

While that's obviously true, lifestyle has a lot to do with it.

I have horrible genes. My Mom died of a massive heart attack 6 months after I was born (must've gotten a look at me...) and my Dad died of a thrombosis at 66.

Knowing that, I make a concerted effort to reduce risk factors I have control over. Don't smoke, don't drink, watch my weight, watch my diet, get regular physicals, have a regular exercise program in addition to a reasonably active lifestyle. Too many people retire from a sedentary office job and then sit on their butt full time. That's just asking for it.

Good news is, all my brothers are still with us, oldest turned 80 in February.